Page 24 of Hot Life

“We’re going to meet our baby today.” Odette wiped away a tear as her and Caroline leaned over, giving me a gentle hug. I swallowed my emotion and fear.

“Please stay with me. All of you,” was all I could manage to say in between the squeezes of my middle.

“We’re not going anywhere, Queen. Cedric has already worked out an exception to their OR policy. We’re all coming in.”

I smiled at my husbands. “Thank you, Ced,” I tugged him down for a kiss.

“Anything for you, Dot.”

A few nurses came in to give everyone an overview of operating room procedures. My husbands and Odette had to change into paper scrubs in a separate room, while Caroline, because she was now a certified doula, could change in the room and stay with me.

Caroline and Odie sat on the bed with me, carefully tending and giving me sips of water as we waited. In between contractions, I noticed Cedric’s hand on Desmond’s shoulder. “You going to be okay in there?”

Des’s jaw tensed slightly, but he flicked a glance to me and then back to Ced. “For her I will be.”

My body tensed, and not from labor pains. I hadn’t even considered that going into an operating room could be difficult for Des. “I didn’t even think…Des, I can try for a vaginal delivery. We don’t have to—”

“Hey, don’t even finish that sentence. You’re the one going through all the hard stuff right now. The least I can do is be there for my wife. Nothing could stop me from going in there with you. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

I didn’t have time to argue as three nurses appeared and rolled me into the hallway, my IV drip and family following after. “We’ll see you in a few minutes, Dot,” Cedric promised as they went to be suited up. My heart immediately felt their absence, and tears pricked my eyes.

Caroline rubbed my arm as we entered the blindingly bright operating room. “Is it possible to dim these lights? We’d appreciate a family-centered ceserean, as long as all goes well. Can we have the drape lowered upon baby’s birth and immediate skin-to-skin?”

A dry chuckle left my throat at the wide-eyed nurse who nodded at Caroline’s requests. A couple minutes later, the lights were lowered slightly, and soft music began to play. “Wow, I take back everything I said when I teased you about becoming a doula. You’re amazing, Caroline. I’m thankful you’re here.”

She grinned, her dark hair gleaming under the spotlight above the table. The room was a flurry of activity as I was assisted into a seated position, my legs dangling off the bed.

“Arch your back like a cat,” the nurse instructed as a team of people behind me taped something to my back.

“Caroline?” I whimpered, searching for someone not wearing scrubs or white or masks.

In an instant she was in front of me, taking my hands into hers. “Cedric and Desmond are getting suited up, so is Odette. They’ll be here any moment now.”

I rested my forehead to her chest. “Thank god you became certified as a doula. I’d be alone right now if it weren’t for you.”

I felt her warm smile atop my head.

“Okay, Dorthea, this will sting a bit,” a male voice behind me warned. I squinted my eyes shut and clutched Caroline’s hands so hard I was sure it must have hurt. But she didn’t pull back. She held me close through the insertion of the needle into my spine. Stinging a bit was an understatement. But the moment I felt the worst of it, my body slowly numbed, the intensity of the contraction dulling with each wave of pressure.

Caroline and a nurse helped lay me back on the operating table, and a curtain flagged my chest. “Dorthea, dear, we’re just setting up right now. I’ll walk you through everything,” Dr. Kamara assured me with her calm and cool voice.

And then Caroline let go of my hand. Before I could protest, another rougher palm took her place on my left. “I’m here, Queen,” Desmond whispered. He was head to toe in scrub-wear, and I half thought it looked funny seeing him in Cedric’s typical uniform.

And then Ced kissed my wrist to my right. “You’re doing great, Dot. And god, you’re so beautiful. Isn’t she, Des?”

“A queen, a goddess,” he responded.

Some of the fear in my chest subsided. Odette’s voice sounded from the corner of the room. “I’m here, Dolly. Everything’s going to be perfect.”

“This is quite the support team you’ve got,” my anesthesiologist commented cheerily behind me. “I’m putting some nice pain meds through your IV right now,” he cooed.

My arms were spread and strapped down. I was flanked by my husbands. Cedric monitored the happenings of whatever was going on behind the curtain and seemed to approve. That was an enormous comfort. My husband was one of the best surgeons in the world. He knew exactly what a cesarean entailed. I knew if Cedric was here, I was safe. He’d make sure. “They’re all set up, Dot. We’re going to meet our baby soon,” he smiled, rubbing my forehead and kissing my cheek.

I choked my emotion down, but it didn’t work as tears fled my eyes. A calloused thumb wiped them away.

“We’re beginning now, Dorthea. Deep, steady breaths, and let us know if you feel any discomfort,” Dr. Kamara instructed before the room fell still with the low murmur of doctor chatter and machines beeping.

“I’m scared,” I admitted on a whisper. I glanced between Cedric’s blue eyes and Desmond’s green. The ocean and the forest. The best of both worlds.

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